In the Name of the Father ... and Son

Every chef is a product of a place and a tradition. For me, the place is Le Marche, a relatively unknown region of central Italy on the Adriatic coast across the Apennines from Rome.  The tradition is the sharecropping system known as mezzadria, in which every Trabocchi down the line was a farmer. From my father, Giuseppe, a farmer who was also known as a great cook, I inherited a love of cooking and an appreciation for the communal way of life. When the mezzadria system was dismantled by "Big Agriculture", my father became a long haul truck driver. Yet he still taught me how to select products and get the most from ingredients by taking me around to all of his former sharecropper friends as he shopped for Sunday's family meal. This unintended culinary "education" was for us the normal way of life. 

Luca and Fabio Trabocchi

Cooking has been my way of continuing the traditions of Le Marche, as well as the culinary heritage of my own farm family.  Casa means home, and Luca represents the next generation (my son, Luca). 

Casa Luca features the simple, authentic cooking of Marche families - those sharecroppers, fishermen, butchers, grocers, truck drivers and artisans -- and the Italian spirit of conviviality around a communal table. Casa Luca also represents my father Giuseppe’s legacy: it is a culinary heritage manifesting itself in different ways through the generations. The circumstances of my son Luca’s life are much different from my own, but the same knowledge is transferred, and the food of Casa Luca becomes our very special link to the past.

Thank you for participating in this tradition by dining with us!

Fabio